May 20, 2015
Department of Theatre and Dance Assistant Professor Katie Dawson has been named the recipient of the 2015 College of Fine Arts Distinguished Teaching Award. The college’s most prestigious teaching accolade, Dawson’s contributions as an educator and scholar were formally recognized at the College of Fine Arts spring commencement ceremony. She will receive a monetary prize and is invited to present the keynote address for the 2015 winter College of Fine Arts commencement.
An alumna of The University of Texas at Austin, Dawson (M.F.A. ’06) is recognized as a pioneer in the classroom and in the field of applied theatre. Her areas of research include community-engaged outreach programs, arts integration, youth theatre, museum theatre, drama-in-education, theatre-in-education, and teaching artist praxis.
She serves as the director of Drama for Schools, the Department of Theatre and Dance’s professional development program that trains educators and students in drama-based instruction. Partnering with schools nationally and internationally, Drama for Schools provides educators with strategies to build student engagement across the curriculum.
In the fall of 2015 Dawson was invited to join a University of Texas at Austin task force responsible for planning a teaching and discovery incubator for campus. In addition, she was recently nominated to be a Provost’s Teaching Fellow.
Dawson’s recent honors include the 2013 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2012 Department of Theatre and Dance Teaching Award and American Alliance for Theatre & Education’s 2013 Creative Drama Award.